Day 31 – Dubois, Wyoming to Lander, Wyoming

On the Road to Lander

(Finally able to post this after no internet yesterday or this morning)

On some days it takes forever to get going, and it can get frustrating.  Yesterday morning (Saturday) I was all set to check out of the Wind River Motel and reached for my cycling gloves which I had set on the bed just minutes earlier. But there was only one glove. After looking everywhere on and around the bed for the missing glove I resorted to looking into my panniers (bags). Somehow I had picked up one of the gloves along with something else and placed it near the bottom of one of the bags.

So now I was ready to go, but when I grabbed my helmet I noticed that the rear view mirror (which I had to ride back uphill to retrieve just the day before) was missing. After looking everywhere in the room and in the gravel parking lot I couldn’t find it. I had to get going and figured I could pick a mirror up at the bike shop in Lander.

So at 10:00, an hour later than planned after those disruptions and others, I was on my way. It was going to be a 76 mile day to Lander, which has a population of over 7,000. This would be considered a rather big town on the route.

The first hour was fantastic and I did 15 miles, which is pretty good for me. The second hour some hills appeared and I was at 26 miles after two hours.

Nearing mile 30 I was approaching the town of Crowheart, population 141. On the map a store was listed and since this was the first place since Dubois with one, I wanted to stop and take a short break. Finally, in the distance I saw an Exxon sign, and way past that I noticed two specks. By now your eyes are sort of trained to spot cyclists from very far away, with the shape of the panniers around the bike.

As I pulled up to the Exxon, a few moments later the cyclists pulled up as well. They were Suzy and Christian, a young couple from Denmark and Germany. It was funny as I was 30 miles from where I started, they were 50 miles from where they started, there was nothing else along the way but we both pulled into this little outpost at the same time.

It was a good setting as there was a picnic table directly in front of the store. So we got something to drink and talked about our trips. As far as couples I’ve met, these two were the most adventurous. They started in Boston and were basically just winging it. They weren’t following any established cycling route, just going where they felt they wanted to, across states such as Wisconsin and South Dakota, sometimes “stealth” camping (camping out of sight off the road). At one point they left their bikes safely stored at a place in Casper, Wyoming and hitchhiked 400 miles (I believe) to Denver, beginning at 10:00am and arriving, after riding with four different drivers, at 6:00pm. Somewhat dangerous, perhaps, but I admire the younger people I’ve met who find a way to do what they want and are not yet old and cautious. After a week in the Denver area they eventually got back to Casper, picked up their bikes and continued their trip. Very nice couple.

After having a good half hour conversation it was time to move on. The potential headwinds I was concerned about never materialized except for a strange stretch a couple miles near the end. Besides that there seemed to be almost no wind the whole day. Also, there weren’t many photo opportunities. It was just wide open land and I didn’t have much to choose from for a cover photo for this post.

I had received an email from Ede, the cyclist from Wales, who is now a few days ahead of me. She told me about a city park in Lander where you could camp for free. During the ride this day I ran into a guy named Kevin, riding from Michigan, who had stayed in the same park the night before and highly recommended it. So I decided to head there.

After riding through the Wind River Indian Reservation and stopping for a drink in Fort Washakie, I arrived in Lander at 5:15. It’s a very comfortable little town and one of the first times on the trip where I rode through an actual neighborhood. This one had some nice homes. Once through the neighborhood you arrive at the park, with its baseball field and people throwing the football and playing horseshoes. It’s a popular place as there must have been fifteen tents set up, not just cyclists, but people with cars passing through who were camping as well.

Overnight there was a lot of rain, but when I got up this morning things looked better. I spoke with a Belgian cyclist named Stephen who gave me some advice on today’s ride which again, depending on winds, could be an easy one or very difficult. Is has a lot of elevation gain so I’m already thinking more on the difficult side. Potential stopping spots are Jeffrey City, population 58, or Muddy Gap, which is ambitious at around 80 miles away.